I guess I got that kontract.  I also got two new invites to interview today.  I got one invite in voicemail while I was talking to the kontract guy.  so the last couple of days were good.  I heard back from almost every company to which I applied recently.   I told those people I would get back to them later this year.

20cent will attribute this onslaught to her resume edits.

it occurs to me that it’s all about targeting.

I’m going to head over to gallaud/et in a bit to observe some bik/e polo for a spell.  maybe bring a thermos.

interv/iew thurs in the burbs.  the near burbs.  home state.  never thought I’d have another jo/b there.  it would most likely be a driving commute, if.  though there is a half decent transit option.  it would not involve the beltway.  not directly.  the drive would likely be shorter in duration than a bike+transit trip from here to dupont.  scooting would be an option in fair weather.

they said the process would start with a phone talk, but then after they saw my cod/e sample they invited me in, sans phone talk.  that’s perhaps a good sign.  I guess the fact that I can get an interview after someone sees a code sample is at the very least proof that my code isn’t conspicuously bad.  I will never not feel like I somehow snuck into the profession.  I struggled with the number of negatives to include there.  for a while I had I will never not feel like I didn’t sneak.

my search engine disoptimization practices have slackened.

as predicted back when the ceiling was open, each phase is easier than the one before.  I have already skimmed 90% of the ceiling in a rough way, after earlier today removing the last 1/3 of the popcorn.  the walls are ready for sanding.  a few more iterations of mud and the ceiling will be ready for sanding.  sanding the mud will be much, much quicker work than was sanding the popcorn.

I may be at that phase where because I’m getting several nibbles I decide they all add up to a yes somewhere.  but in fact that might not be the case.  could be that none will add up to a yes.  probably something will, I think.  fascinating.  I wasn’t being sarcastic.  I actually think this is sort of fascinating, the blindness.   today the search front was a bit quiet and I was a bit quiet as well.  I did not look for more prospects.  I should blindly proceed with seeking prospects as if I have none.  I should get back on that tomorrow.

a very dim grey day in the dc.  certain pieces of the weather were cancelled.  its color and sound among them.  I think it is football related.

there is one recruiter whose emails I have not been answering and it’s entirely due to grammar.  I should get past that.  could be ESL.

the popcorn is DEAD.

I killed it with the orbital sander.  it was pronounced DEAD around 2:04 p.m. EST.

my home is now a popcorn-free school zone.

it was a deltoid workout.   a patience workout.

dust floats in that room right now.  it is the spirit leaving the popcorn, stubbornly refusing to pass into the beyond.  it will settle to the floor, then I will vacuum it up.  then I will dump it in the back yard where it will get rained on and join the earth.  then probably microorganisms will eat it.

next step is to skim coat the whole ceiling in there.  shouldn’t be too hard.  120 sq ft.

snow

I like it

it makes things both shiny and obscure, and revealed

.

it’s a uniter, not a divider.

–

it snowed.

–

I hit the sweet spot in some botanic.

man.

going down with the botanic.  I’m reminded of the old gary larson comic, wherein the cook is seen pondering whether to regret having believed that the cook always goes down with the the ship.

so it is we generate these psychic closures.  out of the twigs and button threads of the field.

of closures, the room is smoothing out.  it does proceed, by an hour or two of work a day.  sometimes a burst of 3 or 4.

I opened the vent in there.  it is toasty.  it never really got cold, even with the vent closed.  so you know.  in the closed it was cold for a while.

the renovators were seen moving boxes of hardwood flooring into the house.  I presume the wood will acclimate in there for a few days or whatever, before installation.  so they anticipate installation soon.  and that would be it, right.  I have at times gotten just a little pissed off about how quickly they are able to move through all these phases.  time lapse.  the nerve of them.  gutting and renovating an entire house in 2+ months.

the patriots winning the superbowl is like, a tie.  the season would just be a tie.  every team’s record would be reset to 8-8.  hopefully it would not affect draft order.  I think it’s unlikely, though.  they’re one of those teams that looks great when it’s playing the broncos.  speaking of 8-8.

it was an outstanding day on the search front.  I met with recruiters who I liked very much.  in fact they have changed how I see recruiters.  that sentence is somehow embarrassing.  separately I heard from an employer to which I applied directly.  that is actually the first time that’s happened during this search.  separately I heard from another less impressive recruiter who is based in NY but works with DC clients sometimes.  heady times in the search, after a dullness in recent days.

I can’t say enough about the single speed conversion.  the bike.  it has changed the way I see recruiters.

boulder was the first place I ever lived where I encountered people who believed that a haircut could help purge the psyche of, toxins.  I have such a clear image of the moment when it was explained to me by two extremely blonde girls, really the two blondest people I have ever seen, that the reason one was giving the other a haircut was because they were beginning a fast.  My puzzlement must have been clear.  I imagine them detecting my puzzlement at the initial explanation and voluntarily providing further explanation in a charitable, not quite patronizing way.  a concise and pleasant explanation, each or both staring out of their aura’s deep indefinite abyss of blondeness.

sometimes we “tell ourselves things”.  we call these things “affirmations”.  here are some affirmations:

• I got a haircut today
• I am meeting with new recruiters tomorrow
• I generally have been doing some positive job search types of efforts and activities on a daily basis.  A bit each day.  I called a stranger today who someone suggested I call.  we agreed to talk tomorrow.  she is going to put me in touch with some other strangers.  so it is you get passed along like a bucket.  it’s kind of old fashioned.  I suppose I like some aspects of it.
• I may hear back tomorrow about a big contract that I thought I would hear about tuesday.  Still in play.
• I like to party.
• I have to check if I have clean pants (not an affirmation, more like a to-do).

on the other hand the arrythmia of funemployed life does cause a fog to roll in.  it’s not a depression like sadness but is I think a depression probably in some technical sense.  it gets a little harder some days to feel sharp mentally.  the sleep happens for the most part.  no insomnia to speak of lately.  though I don’t think I’ve ever fully adjusted to the earlier schedule enforced by the renovation many mornings.  I hear them starting around 6:40 most mornings, just walking into the house and getting their tools in there, maybe moving a ladder or dragging a bucket across the floor.  what’s odd is that I am conscious at that point of having already been awake.  I don’t think that they wake me up.  it’s as if I’m in a very shallow sleep at that time.  or just plain awake.  in any case it is an issue, but one I can do little about.  just hope the project moves along fast.  and indeed they are now painting.  I presume final plumbing (toilet, sinks etc) will follow painting.  I presume electrical had to precede drywall.  they are painting the front of the house white and have already started.  it’s a questionable choice next to my light green, but we’ll see how it goes.  I presume floors will be last.

I have a good view of the evening sky from this rear office where I have typically been seated when blogging in recent days, or maybe half the time with the other half being the kitchen table.  this is certainly a good room up here.  a good place for dusk.  really it’s a very good place.

I see interior doors out there, OSB, trim and even a section of cabinetry.  in the back yard next door.

sometimes the next step is going to be a burst. and it’s not the burst yet.  this is true in drywall.  it’s ok to sometimes just do a little bit of work.  but sometimes you have to not do that little bit of work so you can do a lot next time.

there is a commercial building, I think near the corner of montello and florida, that has a little tree growing out of the wall, and it has been living there for at least 2 years, growing out of the brick, I’m going to say 15 feet above a bare stretch of sidewalk, and 8 feet below the roof, more or less in the middle of a wide expanse of probably yellow brick with a few small bills or empty hangers, and it’s maybe three feet tall growing out of a one inch ledge that I suppose is a decoration or just division in the brick work, to divide the expanse of wall so there isn’t too much uninterrupted wall.  the extremes of cold I suppose unless perhaps there is a leak there with a bit of conditioned air coming out of the wall.  not much moisture much of the time but that ledge may slope just slightly toward the wall, catching a bit of water possibly along the entire wall and channelling it to the lowest place in the ledge.  though typically the builder would be careful to slope the ledge slightly down from the wall.  it’s possible there is a large animal in the attic that sleeps constantly and bleeds water.  that water follows its tail down to a crack in the plaster, and on out to the tree.

skinskins twice beat the giants in 2011, and both were solid wins: 28-14 and 23-10.  skinskins came close to beating the pats.  skinskins lost by one score to the 49ers, 19-11.  though the 49ers dominated in the 2nd half.  perhaps it was not as close as the score.  SF outrushed WSH, 138-52.

based on these results, it seems that the 49ers and ravens will meet in the super bowl.  it’s not an easy game to pick, mostly because the skins did not play the ravens in 2011.  ravens and skins last met during the regular season in Dec 2008, a 24-10 victory for the ravens.  but I don’t know if that game should impact our prediction for the super bowl.  I’m gonna say… 49ers over Ravens.  20-10.